The invention relates to the suspension of musical instruments, and more particularly, to the suspension of stringed instruments, such as guitars, which have an unbalanced center of mass.
Large stringed instruments, such as guitars, which are commonly suspended about the shoulder of the musician, are held by a harness, which often has both of its ends attached to the main body of the instrument.
In many modern stringed instruments, such as guitars, there is an elongated neck that extends from the body of the instrument and terminates in a head pad with laterally protruding keys or knobs by which the strings can be adjusted. Because the head pad tends to be enlarged for aesthetic and utilitarian reasons, it applies a substantial amount of torque to the main body of the instrument through the elongated neck, when both ends of the harness are attached to the main body, resulting in an imbalance. Thus, the guitar player generally has to apply pressure with his arm to the base of the guitar near where the harness is attached, in order to balance the instrument.
In another common method of suspending large instruments, such as guitars, by a shoulder harness, one end of the harness is attached to the main body of the instrument, and the other end of the harness is attached to a head pad, which is attached to the main body by an elongated neck. With such suspension, the instrument tends to rest with its center of gravity directly below the region where the harness contacts the shoulder of the musician. With instruments having very long necks, such suspension causes the active playing area of the instrument to lie out of convenient reach of the musician. The musician must then apply a force to the instrument in order to swing the active playing area of the instrument to a convenient position. A further disadvantage of such suspension for relatively heavy instruments is the length the harness must traverse, and the necessarily small angle the harness makes with the neck of the instrument. These result in a loose and insecure positioning of the instrument with respect to the musician. The harness tends to slip from the shoulder of the musician, and the musician must continually adjust the position of the instrument.
In the illustrative prior art of the parent application, Jacobs discloses a strap attached to the main body of a guitar at a first anchor point by combined fittings. A further fitting is joined to the guitar at a second anchor point, with an intermediate buckle adjustment, unconnected to the guitar, for controlling the extent to which the strap can be displaced from the body of the guitar.
In the further illustrative prior art of Van Halen, a suspension that includes a strap is attached at the body and neck of a guitar, and at an intermediate support. The strap has a first attachment to the main body of the guitar and a second attachment to the head. A further attachment is intermediate the first and second attachments displaced from the first attachment, but not attached in the vicinity where the guitar body is connected to the neck.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to facilitate the suspension of musical instruments. A related object is to facilitate the suspension of stringed instruments, such as guitars with long necks.
A further object of the invention is to facilitate the suspension of musical instruments which tend to be unbalanced or insecure in their conventional suspension.
Another object of the invention is to improve over the suspensions of the prior art, including Jacobs and Van Halen.